Carbon Fiber Tripod for 8x10

[rdenney]

Thanks for the info about Christopher. I’ve missed him and his work here.

I have a 3-series Gitzo with an Arca ball head that I use for medium format and smaller—mostly Pentax 645Z and 67. It’s light and stiff and if there are tripods with easier or quicker leg collars, buy them. It was expensive even preowned. I’d be happy using it for my 4x5 Sinar F or P on a Sinar tilt head. I might want something stiffer for an 8x10 on a windy day, but sans wind it would be fine.

My Sinars current live on large and heavy Manfrotto legs, but I certainly don’t carry that stuff far.

I’ve never handled FLM so I can’t speak to a comparison. The Gitzo legs fit in a checked bag if I pop off the ball head, which is quick and easy to do. A Ries won’t do that, but I’d certainly consider one as an alternative to the Manfrotto legs.

Rick “liking the maintainability of Gitzo” Denney

[Jim Becia]

Leofoto.

Have to agree with Lachlan here, I have a Leophoto tripod that cost under $300 that gives a Really Right Stuff a run for the money at $600 to $700 less.

[WBYonder]

I guess I’m in the minority here. I bought a RRS TVC-34L used. Still cost more than imported tripods are new but I have never regretted the purchase. Tripod works great and I would spend the money again given the same choice.

[MCohn]

Yes, thank you for sharing Christopher's work! It's lovely.

And I appreciate all the feedback. It seems if I were to go with a Gitzo a series three might be marginal. Rick, your mention of maintainability raises a good point: I'll have to ask Ari what kind of support/parts there are in the US in case something needs replacing or repair. Because I'm wary of gear that I can't fix. As much as I love my old cameras, I don't enjoy being out of luck/having to scour eBay for replacements when something goes awry.

[Jim Becia]

I guess I’m in the minority here. I bought a RRS TVC-34L used. Still cost more than imported tripods are new but I have never regretted the purchase. Tripod works great and I would spend the money again given the same choice.

I have the same tripod as you and it is indeed an excellent, excellent tripod. Just saying that the Leofoto equivalent is pretty good at a very reduced price. Oh, I still use the RRS tripod and carry the RRS on my photo trips, but I tend to pull it out the Leofoto as it gives me another foot or so of height which comes in handy at times.

[Vaughan]

There's a British, Paris-trained photographer named Christopher Broadbent... He successfully convinced me to abandon a tripod head for a combination of levelling from the legs and a levelling base.

I second this, a panorama quick release base on a half bowl levelling thingy is light, compact and sturdy. The ONLY limitation is when there is a need to adjust the camera angle to significantly more than 15 or 20 degrees, say when doing macro work from a high viewpoint, or when rise or fall is insufficient. For these cases something like the Reis/Liland or a ball heard are better suited.

[notorius]

Have to agree with Lachlan here, I have a Leophoto tripod that cost under $300 that gives a Really Right Stuff a run for the money at $600 to $700 less.

Could you please share exact model of Leofoto and setup which are you using? Thanks a lot.

[Jim Becia]

Could you please share exact model of Leofoto and setup which are you using? Thanks a lot.

The model that I have is LS-324CL. It's a very nice tripod for the money.

[Lachlan 717]

Could you please share exact model of Leofoto and setup which are you using? Thanks a lot.

LM-404CL with an Acratech head.

Also have the Manfrotto MT057C4-G that has a Majestic head on it. I use this for 8x10 and 7x17.

Might swap the heads, now I think of it…

[Drew Wiley]

I've obviously preached going "headless" for large format work for a long time. But if I did need something relatively stable in between the tripod platform and the camera bed itself, those half-ball leveling devices make a lot of sense, in the field, at least.

While I tend to prefer solid maple Ries tripods in general, I wisely acquired one of the beefiest Feisol CF's as an alternative solution for 8x10 on longer walks, and for sake of advancing age. These are Chinese made, but quite well so.
Having sold domestic survey tripods, and seen horrific Chinese knockoffs of those, there is no shortage of my complaints on that front; but that doesn't mean things made in China are inherently substandard. Take, for example, Chamonix cameras. Even Nikon optical builder's auto-levels are made in China, but according to tight specifications. So it all depends on the intended market, and who authorized the manufacture. And I've been entirely satisfied with the Feisol brand product. On the other hand, I have seen leg failures in current Gitzo CF's, which I've never encountered in my older Gitzo CF, the original CF version of the Reporter tripod series (suitable for MF and 4x5, but not 8x10).
So it all depends.

In any event, if I were still shopping for one, I'd want to test it in person with my own camera, and demand a right of return if it didn't work out. Going by mere paper specs and alleged duty weight ratings doesn't cut it.